Name changes for German vehicles.

[Geoffrey Cooke]

I only recently learned in Michael Green’s book “German Tanks of World War II” that Hitler forbade the name Hornisse (Hornet) for the Sd.kfz 164 tank-destroyer and had it changed to Nashorn (Rhinoceros) instead, because “Hornet” wasn’t aggressive enough... HORNETS are notorious for their aggression, Adolf, albeit yeah they are puny. Then I read elsewhere that he also banned the name Hummel (Bumble-bee) for the aforementioned’s twin, self-propelled artillery variant, the Sd.kfz 165, for the same reasons. However I don’t see any indication of what its new name might have been, or if it just went unnamed other than the official designation after that.

Very silly stuff, but I’m curious if anyone knows what the Hummel’s name could have been changed too? And for that matter, were there other instances of this happening? Specifically Hitler intervening because the names weren’t strong enough for his liking.

[Christian Ankerstjerne]

While it is correct that the name change was ordered by Hitler, I haven't seen any evidence of the reasoning you mention. It may be accurate, but it does sound to me like the kind of apocryphal story that becomes an accepted truth without any real support.

I wrote an article on German equipment names a while back, which includes a translation of the order changing the name to Nashorn. I am not aware of any follow-up on the stated intention to rescind the Hummel name.